On June 22-23, 2009, I had the opportunity to attend the Texas Chief Technology Officers’ (CTO) Clinic taking place in Austin, Tx. My reason for being there was simple – I’d been invited to present on Web 2.0 and Leadership. One of the unexpected benefits of attending the TxCTOClinic, though, was a presentation by Bob Daughrity, Alice Owen, and Kari Rhame Murphy on Virtual School in Texas.

K12 public education is in the midst of the next “disruptive innovation” that will change the way the world learns. Virtual learning plays a major role in movement from standardized instruction to student centered instruction. Every student is unique and learns differently, therefore learning should be “personalized,” dynamic, and engaging. Virtual learning environments do present new challenges for technology leaders to consider. Come participate in this discussion with school leaders who have experienced first-hand the changes needed to prepare our networks, staff, teachers, administrators, parents, and students for the future.

In my own professional work, I have been an advocate for school district leaders to embrace the potential of online learning for K-12 as well as adult learners. It is an effort that has made little progress in some situations, mainly because of tunnel-vision caused by high-stakes testing pressure. Yet, as Clayton Christiansen points out in Disrupting Class, online learning presents a wonderful opportunity for schools and children who may choose to learn there in the future. I hope you will enjoy this recording of a presentation from Pasadena ISD, Irving ISD, and Deer Park ISD. I also refer you to my notes on the presentations, available online at http://mguhlin.net/txcto09 with Virtual Schooling in particular here .

Thanks for listening!

Listen to this TxCTO09 Podcast on Virtual Schooling in Texas…be sure to turn up the volume since I was recording this with an Olympus WS-210 from about 10 feet away and the presenters weren’t using a microphone. This file is 37 megs and hosted at the Internet Archive.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure